Page:The Philosophy of Earthquakes, Natural and Religious.djvu/27

Nor will the unusual driness and warmth of the weather solely account for such a precipitate vegetation: because a necessary supply of rain was wanting, as in the natural Spring-season.

A very long dry frost will produce the same electrical state of the earth, as it equally favours electrical experiments. Thus, March 27, 1076, a frost from the 1st of November to the middle of April, a general earthquake in England succeeded. Matt. Paris. That of Oxford, 17th of September 1683, was after a frost. Jan. 4, 1680, An earthquake in Somersetshire: The air was very calm; a frosty night,

Mr. Flamsted concurs with us, in our first position, That earthquakes always happen in calm seasons. He adds, "That Keckerman, a learned author, who wrote on the subject, affirms, and backs it from the authority of Aristotle and Pliny."

The 8th of September 1601 was a very calm day but cloudy: And the Smyrna merchants observe the earthquakes there happen in calm, still weather. The remarkable clearness and calmness of the morning was observed in that of Oxford 17th of September 1683, and the air continued so for five or six days after: Therefore we may infer, that it is not impossible, what has been abundantly related, that some foreigners from Italy here